Hunting
I’ve had this idea of Katniss and Peeta sharing interests for a really long time. I’m also planning to write the baking part. I hope you enjoy it! ♥
We’re sitting around the kitchen table, eating a sandwich with some peanut butter and jelly. It’s almost noon and we’re talking about the weather. ‘’It’s really sunny today. Such a beautiful day of spring,’’ he says, looking from the window to my eyes. ‘’Yeah, I think I’ll go hunting today. Our stock of meat is getting low again.’’ His smile vanishes and he turns his eyes away from me. I know he doesn’t like it when I go hunting because then he’ll be alone for a couple of hours. Sometimes he goes visit Haymitch, but since he’s asleep during most of the day he’s not much of a company.
I always feel bad when I’m heading to the woods, leaving him behind. The last couple of weeks I didn’t even go hunting, just to save me another discussion about it. I went to town to buy meat but it just doesn’t feel right. Eight years ago I was almost starving to death, and hunting was the only way to keep me and my family alive.
My family… The death of Prim still haunts me and I can never forgive Gale for what he has done. Even though he didn’t do it on purpose, he was the one who came with the plan. He didn’t know it himself, that they were planning to drop the bombs just like that, but if he just didn’t come up with the plan at all none of it would’ve happened. I haven’t spoken to him since that day, and I’m not in the mood to do it in the near future. Or ever at all. I also haven’t heard much of my mom lately. She stayed in the Capitol because it was too emotional for her to come back to Twelve. I can understand. If I had a chance to leave my old life behind and start a new one somewhere else, I’d also do it.
If it wasn’t for Peeta. I can’t leave him, and I won’t ever again. We’ve been through so much together. He’s the only one who truly understands me. Well, beside Haymitch, but it’s different with Peeta. I can’t really explain, only that I have this kind of connection with him that I never had with anyone else. Not even with Gale. I’m wondering what he’s doing today. Yes, I’m still mad at him, but I don’t hate him. I also wonder what would’ve happened if we just ran into the woods on that day of the reaping. Would we have made it somewhere safe? Maybe even ending up in Thirteen? And what would’ve happened to Peeta? He definitely would be going into the arena, but would he still be alive? Probably not. It hurts to think about it, so I decide to continue our conversation.
‘’If you don’t want me to go, that’s fine,’’ I say to him. He looks up again. His blue eyes have this gloss over them, like he’s about to cry. ‘’No, you can go. I just wish I could join you.’’ I’ve never thought about this, taking Peeta with me. Mostly because it didn’t go so well in the arena, him stepping on every single branch on his path. The cracking sounds could be heard within a radius of half a mile, chasing all the animals away. But maybe it’s different now, since he’s not having trouble with his leg anymore. I’m really glad he managed to walk properly on his artificial leg. Maybe it’s good to take him with me, so I decide to give it a try.
‘’You can come with me if you like. I’ve never shown you how I really hunt before.’’ His smile is coming back now. ‘’I’ve seen you hunt a couple of times back in the are…’’ He cuts off his sentence. I know he regrets saying it. We try to talk as little as possible about what happened in the arena or in the Capitol. To cheer him up a bit I start talking again and pretend I didn’t hear it. ‘’But you haven’t see me hunt here in the woods. It’s beautiful there. Have you even ever been to the woods before?’’ His smile vanishes again. Did I say something wrong? I hope I didn’t.
After a few seconds of silence he sighs and starts talking. ‘’No. My mom didn’t want me to go near the fence. She didn’t even want me to go near the Seam. So most of the time I stayed in town. The first time for me in the woods was actually in the Games.’’ There it is again, the face of regret. ‘’It’s okay, Peeta. Better to let it out than keep it in.’’ He gives me a weak smile. I take his hand and hold it for a moment. A couple of minutes later I get up from the chair. ‘’Let’s put on some woods-proof clothes.’’ He stares at me in a way that gives me the impression he doesn’t understand what I mean, so I decide to be a bit more clearly. ‘’Peeta, are you coming with me or do you prefer to sit there all day?’’ He shakes his head slightly while he gets up and follows me.
We’re on our way to the woods when I’m thinking about something. Wouldn’t it be nice to teach Peeta how to shoot? Then he can come with me more often. I decide to not tell him this yet. I want this to be a surprise.
We pass the place where the fence of our District once was. How many days I got to this exact same place, struggling to get on the other side of the fence, always checking if the power was still off. And now it’s gone. I lead Peeta to a tree with one of my father’s bows and arrows in it. ‘’This has been here the whole time? Weren’t you afraid someone would find it and take it away?’’ He couldn’t believe it. ‘’Yes. And no. Who would go into the woods just for fun? Taking the bow with me into Twelve was way too dangerous, so this was the safest place to keep it.’’ I love the way Peeta can ask these kinds of questions. Sometimes he’s so interested about even the simplest things. I’m really wondering what his reaction will be if I tell him I’m going to teach him how to shoot. While we’re walking to a more open area, I start telling him my idea.
‘’Hey, have you ever shoot before?’’ His face turns to me and I can see that he’s surprised. ‘’No, why?’’ This is my chance. ‘’Okay, then I’m going to teach you how to do it.’’ His face is full of excitement, but at the same time some sort of panic too. ‘’I … I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m not really good at aiming and…’’ Excuses, like always. ‘’Well, I’m going to teach you anyway, if you like it or not.’’ I kiss him on his cheek and his panic disappears. ‘’Stand right here, legs spread out, just like that. Here, take the bow.’’ He does exactly what I’m saying him to do. ‘’You’ve seen me shoot before, right? Okay, try to tighten the bow like you’re aiming on a bird or something.’’ He turns his upper body and pulls the cord with his fingers towards him. I can see he’s shaking. ‘’Wait, let me help you.’’ I’m standing right behind him. My hands on his, trying to show him how to do it. ‘’See? Okay, now the hardest part. Aiming.’’ I let go of his hands and walk to his other side. His eyes are focused on me. ‘’To aim at your target, your eyes have to be straight in line with the arrow. The tip shows you where the arrow will hit.’’ He’s listening very closely to me. Another thing I like about him. I point out at a wild turkey. ‘’Try to hit that one. It’s okay if you miss. It took me a while before I got the hang of it.’’ He focuses on the wild turkey. He stands steady and stays quiet. The only thing I can hear is his breathing. He tightens the cord again and aims for the animal, just like I told him. He lets go of the cord and watched the arrow fly through the air. It hits the animal in its chest. Peeta’s mouth was open of amazement. I put my hand on his shoulder and smile. ‘’That’s amazing! Good first shot,’’ I tell him. I walk towards the wild turkey to get the arrow back and put the animal in my game bag. ‘’I know what we’re going to have for dinner this evening,’’ I say. Peeta’s still standing on the exact same place, smiling like an idiot. My idiot, who just shot his first wild turkey.
We’re walking back to the house. Peeta is still pepped about the turkey. ‘’Did you see how I just did that? With only one arrow!’’ I’m smiling but I’m not really listening to what he is saying. Instead I’m focusing on his face. I really enjoy seeing him like this. Not thinking about all the bad things that happened in the past three years. Just being happy. ‘’So what do you think?’’ he asks. ‘’I’m sorry, what?’’ I didn’t know what he was talking about. ‘’Like I said, you learned me how to shoot, so tomorrow I’ll teach you how to bake one of my delicious breads.’’ I’m in shock. He’s kidding, right? I can’t bake. I tried to when I was younger, but the bread wouldn’t rice and it was still wet on the inside. ‘’I…’’ He cuts me off. ‘’Please Katniss, let me do this.’’ He holds my gaze until I answer. ‘’Okay, but don’t expect me to bake the bread every morning.’’ He starts to laugh. ‘’Oh no, not every morning, only six times a week.’’ I’m not smiling at all. This is still a ridiculous idea. ‘’I’m just kidding, Katniss. You may bake the bread yourself anytime you like. But I understand that I’m the master and that you can never stand up to my baking skills.’’ He’s teasing me, and I hate it when he does that. Well, not really hate it, but still. I can’t keep my face straight so I start laughing too. We’re such idiots. And I love it.








